article
Sky world and this world: the place of Kachaw in Micronesian cosmology
American anthropologist • 88 (3) • Published In 1986 • Pages: 551-568
By: Goodenough, Ward Hunt.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Goodenough examines the place of origin of the Chuuk islanders. Oral history refers to a place called KACHAW, which some scholars have identified with the island of Kosrae, about 800 km to the east of Chuuk. However, other scholars disagree, pointing to the fact that Kosrae was a high island without a seafaring tradition. According to Goodenough, the etymology of the name 'Kachaw' does not correspond to the Kosrean word for Kosrae, but rather to the word KARAWA, meaning 'sky,' the home of spirits. Micronesian cosmology places the sky world beyond the horizon, and anything 'that drifts in from beyond the horizon as coming from that world (559).' Clan patron deities also live in the sky world and are the focus of clan-based cults. The shrines to such gods were on the basaltic peaks of the high islands, and basaltic monoliths were carried to the atolls with the spread of the clans. Goodenough argues that the high island Ponape, to the east of Chuuk, was the major center of influence in the region, and the origin of the clan which settled Chuuk. The name of the dominant clan on Chuuk, SOPWUNUPI, has no meaning in Chuukese, but can be loosely translated as 'district of PII,' which corresponds to the Ponape word meaning 'stone altar.'
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Traditional history
- Historical reconstruction
- Clans
- Cosmology
- Mythology
- Spirits and gods
- Sacred objects and places
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Chuuk
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1999
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Micronesia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1997
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1400-
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Ward H. Goodenough
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 566-568)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 17015424
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Trukese (Micronesian people)